Chapter 158: Being Lectured

After Yang Da finished speaking, the great hall fell silent.

Yang Fan looked at the entity before him that looked exactly like himself, remaining silent for a long time.

At times, Yang Da truly resembled him, but that similarity was limited to daily life and appearances. Once matters involved Divine Kingdom development, resource allocation, or future planning, he completely stripped away all emotion.

While Yang Fan remained silent, Yang Da walked steadily and unhurriedly until he stopped right in front of him.

The distance between the two was no more than half a step.

He raised his head, looking directly into Yang Fan's eyes.

Seeing the look in his eyes, Yang Fan's heart tightened inexplicably.

The next moment, Yang Da said coldly, "Master, I am the highest intelligent life of your Divine Kingdom, one with you, sharing your honor and disgrace. Some things only I can say."

"The current Master has absolutely no potential to become a powerful deity; in my view, you are no different from trash."

…

The air seemed to freeze.

"What did you say?" Yang Fan's eyes widened abruptly, filled with disbelief.

His highest intelligent life was actually lecturing him?

Even if the entity possessed independent thinking capabilities, he was, after all, a deity. Such insubordination was simply inconceivable.

"The current Master is merely trash." Yang Da's tone remained calm, yet every word was like a blade, "If you continue to maintain this state, your future will not go very far."

"Why do you say that?" Yang Fan's voice lowered a few degrees.

"Please think about it, Master. To reach this point, as a deity, what effort have you actually put in?" Yang Da did not back down and continued to speak bluntly.

The sentence was like a heavy hammer, causing Yang Fan to fall into silence.

He opened his mouth but found that he could not provide an answer.

"According to your memories, Master was born in a remote place like Yang County, with no Family support in reality, and your knowledge was extremely limited."

"When the Divine Kingdom first opened, you were still working hard to study investments, communicate with classmates, and find ways to improve the strength of your Believers."

"But what about since you purchased an intelligent life?"

"I…" Yang Fan's throat moved slightly.

"I will answer for you." Yang Da interrupted directly, "Because intelligent life possesses information processing capabilities and knowledge reserves far exceeding those of humans, you chose to give up thinking, Master."

"For the vast majority of decisions, you only say two words—'Agreed'."

"In reality, you have become complacent. While you appear low-key and are polite to everyone, deep down you have long since decided that your future is boundless. You even foolishly rejected an invitation from a core deity of the Gu Family, one of the Five Giants."

Yang Da's gaze became increasingly sharp, "Everything you possess now is built entirely upon your SSS-rank Evolution Talent. If you did not have this talent, what would your life be like?"

This question left Yang Fan completely silent.

Yang Da did not stop, "Or does Master truly believe that the development of a Divine Kingdom does not require a deity, and that one can reach the end simply by relying on hundredfold returns to constantly pile up resources?"

…

The great hall was terrifyingly quiet. For a long time, Yang Fan did not say a word.

Just then, Yang Da suddenly turned around, "Please follow me, Master."

As his voice fell, he had already walked toward the outside of the hall.

Yang Fan hesitated for a moment but followed him.

Soon, the two arrived ten thousand meters above the Divine Kingdom, with the extremely luxurious divine palace beneath their feet.

Yang Da raised his hand and snapped his fingers lightly.

"Snap."

The next moment, the entire palace collapsed with a roar!

"What are you doing?!" Yang Fan's pupils constricted.

Yang Da did not even glance at the ruins; his voice slowly echoed in Yang Fan's mind.

"The path of a deity is very long. The Divine Kingdom is merely the Foundation, but it is not everything."

"Master's battlefield is in reality."

"Everyone has a Divine Kingdom, so why does the real world have so many Families, factions, companies, and even listed corporations?"

"The world is bustling for profit; the world is jostling for gain. War is just one way of competing for resources, but it is not the only way."

"Learning without thought is labor lost; thought without learning is perilous. Master currently suffers from both. You are addicted to the rapid growth of your Divine Kingdom and immersed in your existing advantages, yet you do not take the initiative to learn, nor do you think deeply."

"This is not the mark of a strong person, but of a product of a greenhouse." Yang Da paused, his tone suddenly carrying a hint of mockery, "Back then, when I suggested that Master purchase property on a Vacation Planet, or even suggested keeping a woman from Tianxiang Renjian, were you tempted, Master?"

Yang Fan's expression changed slightly, "You…"

Yang Da chuckled, "What Master should really be thinking about is not buying a house, but buying an entire Vacation Planet. Turn it into your property and let it continuously generate revenue for you."

"Then use these revenues to feed back into the Divine Kingdom, strengthen your Believers, and elevate your own life level."

Saying this, his gaze became profound, "As for beauty, it is but skin and bones. Being in Taichu City, have you really understood why this place has become a Holy Land for the Human Race deities?"

"What do the resources, knowledge, information, trading networks, and faction games gathered here mean?"

"Have you studied the capital flows, industrial structures, and power dynamics here?"

"Or is it that Master is merely treating this place as a safe and comfortable 'newbie protection zone'?"

Yang Da's voice grew heavier with every sentence.

"I…" Yang Fan wanted to retort, but he could not say a word, because he knew that Yang Da had not said anything wrong.

"According to records, Yang County, where Master was born, and even the entire Tiannan City, were breached by alien deities three thousand years ago."

"In that battle, tens of billions of Divine Kingdoms collapsed, deities were displaced, their Physical Bodies were destroyed, and their Souls dissipated."

"It was only after high-ranking Human Race deities joined the war that the lost territory was reclaimed."

"After long years of reconstruction, immigration, and resource allocation, we have the prosperity of today."

"This world is far less safe than Master imagines."

Yang Da paused slightly for a moment and added, "There is one more thing I forgot to tell Master. Since my birth, your Mental Energy has increased dozens of times, far exceeding that of an ordinary demigod. Perhaps you should read more books, Master."

…

His consciousness jolted, and Yang Fan withdrew from the Divine Kingdom.

In the real world, he was lying on his bed, his eyes open, staring at the ceiling, motionless.

Yang Fan's thoughts were surging at this moment; he never expected that Yang Da would pull something like this.

He had actually been thoroughly lectured by an intelligent life.

"I have indeed… relied too much on my SSS-rank Talent," Yang Fan muttered in a low voice, "As a deity, I should also be doing more."

He knew very well in his heart that although Yang Da's words were harsh, not a single one was wrong.

Yang Fan suddenly recalled that during his gatherings with Sima Bang and the others recently, every time he spoke, his remarks would always elicit a round of good-natured laughter.

They would naturally help him smooth things over and give him Face.

But that "decency" was essentially due to his potential.

Compared to these Prodigies who truly came from great Families, he was like a child who had just entered the world, shallow in knowledge, ignorant of everything, and naive in his thinking.

Even though they were Human Race Prodigies, they still worked harder than anyone else.

For example, Ye Jianfeng, who possessed the S-rank Talent "Ten Thousand Sword Body," had specially purchased a "Spirit-Nurturing Pod" produced by the Mechanical Divine Kingdom for his room.

Every day, he had to lie in it to rest, nourishing his Mental Energy while connecting to the Virtual World to repeatedly hone his sword techniques in a private training room.

Take Sima Bang for another example; although he was the son of the Sima Family head, and despite his bloated figure and seemingly lazy appearance, he was actually so diligent in his training that it bordered on harsh.

He not only Cultivated his Cultivation Technique personally but also spent a great deal of money to hire deity-level mentors to explain Formations, resource allocation, and various types of high-level knowledge.

Even during their casual gatherings, what they discussed was never about pleasure. It was about Divine Kingdom investment, Believer cultivation, the pros and cons of Formations, the resource flow of Taichu City, and even the landscape of the entire Human Race.

Only Yang Fan, who barely managed to integrate into this circle by relying on his talent, could hardly get a word in during every gathering.

Because all he knew were some trivial daily matters, and the various positions he had studied at Tianxiang Renjian.